Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2013 , Vol 16, Issue 3
INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESPIRATORY EXPOSURES AND OCCURENCE OF DISEASE IN PATIENTS WITH COPD
Sibel GÜNAY1, Ersin GÜNAY2, Özlem SELÇUK SÖNMEZ3, Nilgün YILMAZ DEMİRCİ3, Atila İhsan KEYF3, Cebrail ŞİMŞEK3
1Afyon Devlet Hastanesi Göğüs Hastalıkları Kliniği AFYONKARAHİSAR
2Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Göğüs Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı AFYONKARAHİSAR
3Atatürk Göğüs Hastalıkları ve Göğüs Cerrahisi Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Göğüs Hastalıkları Kliniği ANKARA
Introduction: In this study, investigating the relationship between COPD and respiratory exposures were aimed.

Materials and Method: For the study group, 711 patients who were admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of COPD between May 2009 and June 2010 were included. For the control group, 246 volunteer patients with a diagnosis other than COPD were included. A questionnaire including questions about sociodemographic characteristics, environmental and occupational exposures, patterns of tobacco use and passive-tobacco-smoke exposure was filled with face-to-face interview.

Results: The mean age was 62.7±10.8 for COPD and 64.9±10.9 years for the control group (p>0.05). The average monthly-income-levels and the educational-status of the patients in the COPD group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p=0.015 and p=0.002, respectively). In the COPD group the number of people dealing with farming were greater compared to the control group (p<0.001). Tandoor and fireplace were more commonly used by female patients with COPD (p=0.034 and p=0.002, respectively). When the fuels were analyzed, dried dung (56.1%) was found to be more commonly used by patients with COPD (p<0.001). Duration of smoking and cigarette-consumption was significantly higher in the COPD group. Exposure to passive smoke was significantly higher in the COPD group (p<0.001). Effective risk factors in the development of COPD were environmental exposures (OR 2.314), increased cigarette- consumption (pack years) (OR 1.011) and increased duration of exposure to passive smoking (OR 1022).

Conclusion: For the development of COPD, in addition to smoking, environmental and occupational exposure to pollutants including use of biomass-fuels and passive exposure to tobacco smoke are important risk factors, and prevention of exposure to these pollutants could impede the development of COPD significantly. Keywords : Pulmonary Disease; Chronic Obstructive; Tobacco Products; Second-hand Smoking; Environmental Exposure; Occupational Exposure